


What's Old Is New Again

by NotARealGeek



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Manipulative Sheev Palpatine, Tatooine Slave Culture, Time Travel, things start in the third chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 06:49:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14971418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotARealGeek/pseuds/NotARealGeek
Summary: Luke and Leia die at the same moment in an evacuation turned violent, and as they pass into the Force it reaches out and stops them. Landed in the past, they have to fight to change a future that may well be set in stone.





	1. Chapter 1

         Leia never expected to die with her brother. For the first twenty years he never knew him, and for the most of the last he was gone; gone without a trace.

         “Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?” Even as she had said it lifetimes ago, she had felt the air sing and it was like...

         Home, but in a person. Easy to confuse for love, and maybe they would have, except for the med-droids. When he was checked over after the Death Star exploded and her world was gone they were listed as each other’s next of kin. She might not have noticed, in a world two steps over, where a gentle voice hadn’t reminded her to update her files.

         They didn’t quite follow each other across the galaxy, and they never put things on hold for the other twin, but when he learned the ways of the force with Yoda one of the first things he did was reach across star systems to find her. He brushed against her mind when she was in a meeting, and she almost jumped out of her skin. Then she reached out a little and grabbed for him and he was _there_ in her mind.

         She married Han, when it was all over (“I’m Leia’s husband, Han Organa.” He would introduce himself, endlessly, “I like the respect it brings. And you know I’m yours, wherever I am in the galaxy.” and she did.) and one of the rare times they ever blocked each other was her wedding night.

         She had a son, and he was raised as much by Luke as he was by her and Han. Ben Organa-Solo, another piece of bright in the force.

         Then he went to the dark.

         Then the children on Yavin IV were gone.

         Then Luke was gone.

         Then the First Order, and the Resistance, the second rebellion in her lifetime, like she wasn’t meant for peace anymore. She felt like screaming and crying and shattering to pieces when she thought about it too much.

         Then the young woman from the desert came, bright like another sun- like another son- and she felt like she could breathe a little easier.

         Then he was back, her brother, a comfort in her mind, a home inside a person. His smile was more sheepish than Han’s (Han! Her mind cried, a part of her soul looking for him in the force.) and she held herself back from slapping him only because he flinched a the sight of the anger rolling off of her in waves. She was gripped by the almost uncontrollable urge to shake him until he opened up to her and they could _feel_ each other in the force again. Later that night, he came to her door and they sat in a little room off to the side and he told her everything and resisted opening his mind to her for the longest time until _she_ reached out and politely but insistently knocked on the shields he had put on the bond between them.

         Waves of memory had buffeted at her, but she had not become the first true galactic senator in almost three decades for her to fall to grief then. She had taken parcels of blame and tied them up neatly, sending them to the Force, and watched as her brother - and the last person who had really remembered who she was - stopped tearing himself apart. In return, he had taken blocks of anguish and smoothed them until their jagged edges stopped cutting at her insides. Then they had thanked the Force by showing memories of joy to each other and sharing them out, watched Poe take his first flight in her memories, sank into the hot spring beneath the First Temple in Luke’s.

         “I’m sorry, Leia. I never knew, and I should have.” His face had older than when he left and lined with it. A half a century since the had first met, and he still felt like home.

         Leia never thought she would feel the Force scream, but it did as she took the blaster in her chest, right where her heart was. The evacuation around her paused and she heard Poe yell over the comms, and then she felt Luke start to have a heart attack _:Don’t you karking dare, you laserbrain! Someone has to make sure this doesn’t fall apart:_ She thought at him angrily, as her body fell to the ground. A part of her hoped she looked heroic.

 _:Sorry, somehow I don’t think I can help it.:_ He replied as he fell in tandem with her on a starship where he should be safe.


	2. Chapter One: Death, Yet Force

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Passed into the Force, Luke and Leia struggle for understanding as they are asked to complete an impossible task.

         It was hard for Leia to tell where she ended and everything else began. If there was no death only the Force, then she was in the Force and somewhere, Luke was here too. A phantom hand reached for hers and gravity spun around a couple times until her feet set down on a sand dune. “Hey.” Luke said, holding on to her hand a little harder before letting go. He looked like he had the last time she had seen him, every wrinkle in place.

         “Luke! We... Died?” Leia had hoped she would look a little less worn, but judging by her twin she looked just like the battle weary general she had died as.

         “I’m fairly certain. This seems to be what our minds made to help us deal with our deaths.” He smiled at her. She smacked him on the shoulder. “Hey!”

         “What did I say about places you can’t follow me to?”

         “I think at the time you were referring to the council rooms.”

         “Death counts! You needed to help Rey, and Finn and Poe too!”

         “Well excuse me for having a heart attack, sister dear.”

         “You should have-”

         “We are afraid he could not have,” a gentile voice interrupted. Either a low female or higher male, Leia wasn’t sure. She looked around for the speaker. “His death was needed, if you were gone. And now We need both of you,” The voice continued. The shifting sand dunes shimmered and a garden appeared before them, water falling from fountains and waterfalls and birds singing. “You are the strongest of our children, and We need to ask you to be very strong indeed.” The speaker was behind them now. They turned and Luke grabbed her hand again. She gripped back hard. The speaker was a... human, but it was hard to name a gender or age other than ‘maybe’ and ‘older than twenty’. “Hello, Luke, Leia.”

         Luke bowed, dragging Leia along with him. “Hello. What should we call you?” Luke asked them.

         “I am the Voice Of The Force. I am not all of the Force, only a portion. Unfortunately, I am the most sane portion at the moment. Please, come and have a seat.” the Voice led them to a small grouping of carved stones that served as chairs. They took a seat and motioned for Luke and Leia to sit across from them. “I serve to speak what you need to hear and to ask what needs to be asked. Do you have questions, our brightest children?”

         “I would like to understand why you are calling me your child, since I am no Jedi.” Leia said bluntly. Death hadn’t really changed who she was after all.

         The Voice laughed loudly and clearly. “Oh, you are a wonder Leia. You may not be a Jedi, but We still delight in you. The entirety of the Force sings in your presence, as it does in your brother’s. You feel, and you allow us the sharing of good emotions and bad. It is... incredible. We call you our child because you are. In human terms, the Force is your- Hmm. Your Gal-Ena, We would call Us.”

         “Our what?” Luke said, looking like he had been hit with a two by four. Leia looked at him in confusion.  _ :Our grandparent, in Amatakka- remember I told you about the language slaves used on Tatooine?: _

_          :Oh. That’s... surprising.: _

         “Your mother was Padme Amidala, and through her, you may trace your lineage through to the start of the senate. Your father was Anakin Skywalker, and through him, you may trace to your grandmother, who had a child by the will of the force with permission from Ar-Amu. The Mother sent to your grandmother a vision asking her if she would bear the one who could change the universe. She said yes. His genes were determined by the Hand Of The Force, shortly before We lost all sense.”

         “What do you mean, lost all sense?” Leia asked.

         “Why are you the most sane portion of the Force?” Luke continued. 

         The Voice looked grim. “The Jedi teach about the Light and Dark sides of the Force, and this is a fine- if incomplete- understanding. However, we are not Jedi here, and so We shall give you a small philosophy lesson first. To start; The Way of the Living Force is the focus on the actions and energies of all living things in the moment; allowing this to govern one’s actions, thoughts, and to a certain extent, emotions. The Way of the Unifying Force is the focus on energies of the future, how to act on them and in cases prevent them; and the belief that the Force is a cosmic entity to be worshipped. The Force is, itself, closer to being an entity than an energy, although both are true. 

         “An important difference between what the Jedi teach and what is true is that there are no good or evil sides to the Force. There are, however, always good and evil people. The light side of the Force is dominated by logic, knowledge, peace, order and serenity. The dark side of the Force is dominated by emotion, belief, expression, chaos and compassion. Where the Light seeks the truth, the Dark seeks justice. Where the Dark seeks empathy, the Light seeks isolation. It is true that the Dark side of the force is attractive to a kind of being that is more easily corrupted, but it is also true that the Jedi did a great deal of harm with their views.

         “An unintentional side effect to the views held by the Jedi is that they release their emotions into the Force, but only the darker ones. You and your brother always give as much joy to Us as pain, as much laughter as tears, as much emotion as you have. The Jedi used to lock themselves away from emotion and dump their pain into Us like We were a garbage chute. They called upon Our darker side to take from them their pain and suffering, and forgot how to balance Our pain when We took it from them.

         “Can you imagine what that does to a person? Now imagine that happening over tens of thousands years from tens of thousands of people to an entity larger than the cosmos. Our ability to hold our Light and Dark in balance was broken. We were unable to think, or respond to the demands of the Jedi. Your father was supposed to help Us balance again, heal and start to become a whole again, not splintered as you see Us now. He was lead down a path of destruction due to the interference of a Sith Lord and the willful ignorance of the Jedi. He threw himself into the Dark, and without the Light was lost to Our Voice. He could have been a great Dark user, and brought Us to balance by easing Our pain, but the Sith were poisoned long before he came to be.

         “We needed help. We looked for a way to help you, and you were stronger than we had ever hoped for. You balanced the Force, even for just a short time. Then Snoke was a cancer that spread through your new order, and to our sorrow, you lost a promising son and the rest of your order. We were stalled. I was the most healed, since there was no call for a Voice for many hundreds of years. We believe they have forgotten how to ask for help.

         “We called for you when you died, and when Leia died, We called for you as well Luke. We have a task that will change all of the world, and we need you to aid us.”

         Leia and Luke looked at each other with a long and measured look. “We have served the Force all our lives,” offered Luke, “What could we do with our deaths but continue?”

         “We won’t be slaves, not even to the Force,” countered Leia, “Yet... this seems like an important task. What would you have us do?”

         “Our greatest downfall was long before you were born, and our second greatest has its roots only shortly before your father was born. We would like you to fix our mistake by helping Obi-Wan Kenobi. We will send you back through time to teach him the ways you had always intended to teach before the tragedy on Yavin IV.”

         “And what will I do?” Leia asked.

         “We would never separate you. You are one in the Force, you always have been. Not one person, for you are always two people, but you are closer to what the Light and Dark sides of the Force should be seen as. You both feel, and act, and are complete, and yet for one to live without the other would feel most unfair.” The Voice tipped a smile at Leia, “And we so dearly need both of you. The Jedi are a galactic problem, and you need to solve that in the galactic council.”

         Leia nodded slowly, turning those words over in her mind. Luke held out his hand to between the stone chairs. “Think about it, Princess. Meditate about it, I am sure we have the time.”

         “You are welcome to take council with each other, and with all those who have passed into the force before you. Call to them and they will answer you here. We shall allow you the space to think, and when you have made your decision you can call for Us. Simply say to the air that you have chosen and I will come to you. We cannot make you decide.” The Voice stood and vanished.

         Luke hummed under his breath. “I’m not sure... I would need to pray to Ar-Amu, or speak with her if possible; I will not let the Force become depur over me.”

         “I- Luke. I don’t-” Her words caught in her throat. “I need to ask my husband about this. He’s- Luke, I can see him again! Han! Get your ass over here!”

         “No need to shout, your Highness, I can hear you.” Han said, shimmering a little as he stepped around a tree. Leia launched herself from the chair and threw herself into him. He caught her in a spin and set her down on the ground, where she pulled herself back and slapped him. Hard. 

         “You better not leave me again you- you nerf herder! I’ll do something far worse than slapping you, I can promise you that. What did you think was going to happen? He was taught that attachments were weaknesses, of course he was going to kill you!”

         “Leia, he’s my son.”

         “He’s my son too, and I was heartbroken when he left and ready to fall apart when you did. I love you, Force take it. I- oh. Han, they want me to... I better let Luke explain.” She led Han over to the stone chairs and sat back down. Luke stood and exchanged a back slapping hug with Han.

         “It’s good to see you.” Luke pulled back from the hug. “You better take a seat. We’ve been asked to go back in time to help the Force balance and to teach a young Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

         “Seems dangerous. What’s stopping you?”

         “I’m selfish and I don’t want to let you go,” Leia said bluntly, “I just got you back and lost you again, I’m overly fond of your face at the moment.”

         “It’s another mission, Leia. I left you for some, you left me for others. The moment will pass, and plus, you’ll save the future us and Ben a whole pile of heartache. I would never ask you to stay behind for my sake, just like you never asked me. I think you should go.” Han shrugged, “For what it’s worth, I think you would find being one with the force very boring.”

         “And you don’t?” Leia asked curiously.

         “I spy on my friends and keep an eye on the wookie. I’m fine not doing anything and slowly forgetting myself into a part of the Force. You would go crazy within the month, trying to do something.”

         “I’m not ready to lose you forever.”

         “You already did. I died, and you lived on. Think of this as continuing to live on in a grander sense.”

         Leia nodded thoughtfully. “Then I think we need to talk to a few more people.” She stood and looked at her brother. “I am going to take a moment to say a rather passionate goodbye to my husband, so I think you should talk to your master.” She walked away before he could come up with something clever to reply with

 

         Luke watched his sister walk away with her husband, talking and catching up. He took a moment to breathe, rare in a war zone but a routine at the First Temple. “Master Yoda, I would like to speak with you.”

         “Easy that is, for me. What speaking are we doing, young Jedi?” Yoda waved a hand and sat on the low chair that appeared.

         “I need help Master Yoda. I have done a great many wrongs in my lifetime, and I want to fix them. Should I go back in time to teach Obi-Wan? Should I do as the Voice has asked?”

         “Spoken with The Voice Of The Force, have you? Asking me hmm? And think you did on what the voice said? Or emotion guides you still, like a Padawan?”

         “I am beginning to understand what was asked. I know where my duty lies. I should ask instead, what can you tell me that would help me in the years leading up to the Clone Wars?”

         “Feel like cheating this does, hmm? We knew little, I have not the knowledge you need. Know there were Sith, we do. Know we failed, we do. Why, we know not.”

         “I understand, Master Yoda.”

         “Great harm the Jedi Order caused. Great was our wisdom, yet blind were our hearts. Cause pain to each other we did, and apologize not. Hurt, and in pain, we forgot much about the Force. Cure us, you must. Heal our order, and bring peace to the Force.”

         “Peace is not balance, Master Yoda. We will balance the Force, not force peace upon it.”

         “Hmm. Correct, you are. Speak with Obi-Wan you must, tell you more he will.”

         “I will.” Luke stood and bowed to Yoda deeply. “I will miss you, Master.”

         “There I will be. Find me you will, I am sure.” Yoda stood and inclined his head in a respectful nod, fading slowly along with his chair. 

         Luke sighed thoughtfully and dropped into a meditation trance. He looked over to where his sister's Force presence was approaching. Han was gone and she was holding a blue flower. “Hey. Did you... get what you needed?” He asked.

         Leia shrugged at him. “I got what he wanted to give. You know how it is with us. I found this while we were walking, and that’s when I knew.” She held the flower up and spun it gently.

         “What is it?”

         “Do you remember my perfume from Alderaan? The one with the blue crystal flower for a top?” She held it out for him to smell.

         He took a deep breath. “It’s the one you were wearing when I first met you. You wore it for formal occasions only. It’s beautiful.”

         “My father, Bail, gave the perfume to me for my twelfth name-day. He gave me more every year, and when he was going to be gone for a long time he would give me a vase of starflowers. He promised that as long as they were in my room he was going to be coming back. When the Death Star killed the planet, they took all of the flowers with them. Not a single one was left. That bottle was Han’s courting gift to me, he had a hell of a time finding it.”

         “And now you can save it.”

         “Whole planets, Luke. Whole systems. Trillions of lives, so many wars, and we can erase it all. We have to.”

         He nodded at her. “We do. I would like to talk to one more person, if I may?”

         “Of course.” Leia sat back down in her chair “Who?”

         “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” He said, sitting beside her.

         “Well, that seems glaringly like the obvious choice. Why didn’t we think of that before?”

         “To be fair, you called for your husband and then ran off with him before I could say anything,” Luke said teasingly, “and we’re doing it now. Master Obi-Wan, we would like to speak with you.”

         “Hello, Luke. Hello Leia. It is good to see you both.” He faded into view already seated on the stone chair. It looked as if he had lost twenty years from the last time Luke had seen him. His beard was copper and his face was very young. “This is the Room of A Thousand Fountains. It is good to see it again, although that raises several questions.”

         “Obi-Wan, it is an honor to meet you at last. Thank you for saving me from Darth Vader, and for bringing me my brother,” Leia said, in a too level tone that told Luke she had a serious case of hero worship. He glanced at her in amusement.

         “It is an honor for me as well, my dear. What can I do for you?”

         “The Force,” Luke began, “has asked us for a favour. We would appreciate it if you would listen to what it told us, and maybe tell us what you think we should do.”

         Obi-Wan’s eyes sharpened to laser focus and he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “The Force has asked you for a favour?” He steepled his fingers and pressed them to his beard. “Tell me.”

         “The Voice clarified several points of philosophy-”

         “And personal genealogy,” Leia murmured dryly. Luke shot her a look of warning.

         “-and asked us to teach those incredibly salient points to you. The one... complication, is that we were asked to teach these things to you as a young Padawan. We have many questions, as well, about the Jedi Order as it was when you were a Padawan. I want to know about how the Jedi taught younglings, and how they chose Jedi Masters.”

         “And I would like to know how they were governed, how they interacted with the senate, and what policies and politics they had.” Leia had shifted from youthful hero worship to hardened Galactic Senator looking for information by the sounds of it. Obi-Wan leaned back in his chair, eyes wide in surprise.

         “The Force is going to... send you back in time to teach me? To train me in the ways of the Jedi?”

         “To train you in the ways of the Force,” Luke corrected gently, “And to show you what the Jedi would have blinded you to.”

         “Why?”

         “When you give your emotions to the Force, what happens?” Leia asked suddenly, in her teaching tone. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at her. She tilted her head back in a challenge.

         “They are gone,” he replied as if it was obvious.

         “Who has them?” She looked visibly disturbed by the answer. Luke hoped that she could keep her emotions in check.

         “Nobody.”

         “NOB-”

         “Leia,” Luke interrupted lowly, “let me do this, this time. Obi-Wan, I have another question. Where do your emotions come from?”

         “... I’m not sure what you mean.”

         “When you feel any emotion, what is the cause?” Luke asked patiently.

         “My circumstances.” Obi-Wan was giving them a look like they had lost their minds.

         Luke frowned in concern. “When you release them, what do you let go?”

         “The emotion?” He was looking more and more confused and concerned.

         “How do you let go? Who has the emotion?” Luke hoped he wouldn’t have to tell his old Master outright. They had to have taught this, it was the most basic part of releasing emotions to the Force, that the force had them after that, and needed to be thanked.

         “I give them to the Force, and they’re gone. That’s all.”

         Leia had calmed herself enough to rejoin the teaching. “Obi-Wan, if you have given them to the Force, then the Force must have them, correct?”

         “I... suppose, yes. That could very well be true.”

         Leia nodded at him. “Let us assume that to be the truth, for now. We can argue it later. In order to take your emotions the Force must feel them, could you agree with that assessment?”

         “... I’m not sure I can, no.”

         Luke placed a hand on his sister’s arm. “Can you watch the Force around me as I release a memory? Standard practice, for those that I taught. Including my sister, as reluctant as she was.”

         “I can agree with that, certainly.” Obi-Wan closed his eyes and dropped into a light force trance. Luke looked at his sister in concern and saw his worry reflected in her eyes. Even the youngest of his students had been taught to Force watch without a trance, to be constantly open to the Force and still able to do things. This was worrying. Luke closed his eyes briefly and bundled up the memory. (Fact: Obi-Wan did not know how to watch without a trance. Reaction: concern. Reason: Love, fear, wanting to help.) He braided his thoughts into the memory and shared it with the Force. The Force roiled around him with the concern he felt, flinched away from the fear, and drank in the love. Then he opened his eyes and allowed the Force to fade from where he had gathered it around him.

         Obi-Wan was staring at him with a slack jaw. Luke smiled. “There. Did you see what we were talking about? How the force reacted to my emotions like a sentient would?” It was almost nice to be able to surprise his teacher after more than thirty years.

         “I did, yes. But why- why are you showing me this? What does it mean?”

         Leia gave him what Poe had termed the ‘Look of Steel’. It made most people rethink any and all questions they had just asked without thinking. “When you give your emotions to the Force, what happens?” She asked again, slightly gentler this time- despite the look on her face that said she was ready to kill.

         “The Force takes them?” Obi-Wan sounded unsure, and his posture had shifted to that of an attentive student. Luke suspected it was subconscious.

         “Very good. Who has them?”

         “The Force,” replied their reluctant student, sounding more sure of himself. Luke nodded.

         “And who do they belong to?” Luke asked, trying to remain patient.

         “...I’m not sure I understand again.”

         “Whose emotions are they?” Luke was reaching a new understanding of just how badly the Jedi Order had messed up.

         “... Mine, I suppose.”

         “But you’ve shared them with the Force. Do you want to keep them?” Leia tagged him out and took over while he sorted his thoughts.

         “No, that’s why I gave them to the Force. Do they then belong to the Force?” Obi-Wan was both impatient and confused now. They may have to dial back on the questions now.

         Leia shifted to lecture mode in response to his tone. “In sharing an emotion with the Force, you give the emotion to be held equally by yourself and the Force. The cause of the emotion is yourself, your thoughts, your feelings. The effects of the emotion are left to the force; feeling, thinking it over, responding. When you have flashes of insight, it is the Force speaking through you by responding to the emotions you have released into it. When you had visions in your life, were they mostly focused on negative emotions or positive?”

         “Negative.” Obi-Wan seemed to have relaxed back into a receptive state.

         Luke took over the lecture. “Were the emotions you shared with the Force mostly negative or positive?”

         “Negative.” Obi-Wan’s eyebrows drew together in thought.

         “When you release instead of sharing, you cut the Force off from responding to your emotions in the moment, forcing it to speak with you in visions to confront the emotions you have cut off. To have emotions is human. Further, to have emotions is one of the bases of being sentient. How can we expect to save a galaxy when we cannot connect to the galaxy? It is one of the questions I cannot answer for you, nor do I expect an answer. It is something I struggled with for years when I lived and finally came to an answer that made sense to me. If I am to connect with the Force, and through that connection heal as well as harm I must share the parts of me that are healed and healing. There is an old saying on Tatooine that I have held close to my heart for many years; ‘Grief shared is grief halved, but joy shared is joy doubled.’ Have you ever tried to share a moment of joy with the Force?”

         “No, I haven’t.”

         “Would you mind doing so now?” Luke was ready for him to say no- or be told to shove it up a bantha- but Obi-Wan nodded and began to meditate. The Force wrapped around him slowly, as if he had never been taught to reach-and-wrap, one of the basics of continuous Force sensing. Luke carefully guided his force presence and Leia’s away from what Obi-Wan was experiencing.   _ :I think we had best do containment meditation while he fights this one,:  _ He thought at Leia through the bond,  _ :If you remember how,:  _ He teased.

_          :If I remember how, indeed. What do you think I did when you disappeared? I looked for you in the Force every night for years. I wanted you back, and so I taught myself to meditate from what you had shown me.: _ Leia’s mental tone was stark, tinges of loss and pain creeping through, along with bits of joy and relief.  _ :You hid yourself very well. You WILL teach me how to do that.:  _ Forgiveness, pain and a light pulse of needing to talk about it.

_          :Of course. When we have time, I will teach you absolutely everything.:  _ He tried to put every bit of regret and desire to fix things between them that he had into that message.  _ :Whatever I need to do to have earned that forgiveness, I will do. I promise.: _

         Leia sent a pure pulse of love and affection down the bond.  _ :You never leave me alone in the force again, do you understand? We are not to be seperated like that ever again. You do what you need to, and I will do what I need to, but you’re always HERE,:  _ She mentally tapped at the place where their bond was, and it rang like a crystal wine glass,  _ :No more shields over this without an EXCESS of communication. Not up for debate.: _

         He sent a wordless flood of agreement over.  _ :An excess of communication, hmm? Why not just make it so that we agree not to close it off at all?: _

_ :As much as I love you, brother dear, I highly doubt we want to listen in on each other’s sex life:  _ Her mental tone was drier than the desert.

         He tried to stop the flood of disgust that that thought pulled up.  _ :No, not even a little bit.:  _ The bond pulsed with her laughter.

         “Oh,” said Obi-Wan, in the world that wasn’t him and Leia and the Force, “I see what you mean now,” He was clearly trying not to breathe heavily or cry.

         Luke untangled himself from his thoughts. “It is a very strong feeling, isn’t it. Just keep breathing, and slowly pull yourself out of the Force. Each inhale is a pull away, each exhale untangles you. Let me know when you feel ready to keep talking.”

         “Don’t try to rush,” Leia added, “It takes a while to readjust the first few times. Just slowly pull back into yourself.”

         Obi-Wan shook his head, hands breaking from the peace qu’aan they had folded into. “I do not know- I did not know the Force could sing like that. Allow me to show you my life as a youngling.” Obi-wan placed his hands palm up on his knees and opened his mind to begin a memory share.


	3. Within And Without

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decisions must be made and parents must be faced- but what good are goodbyes when no one is listening?

        Peaceful or not, necessary or not, Leia was ready to strangle some Jedi Masters for what they had allowed to happen in their temple. She rubbed a tension headache away and gathered up all of the feelings this mess had brought to her and shared them with the Force. It swirled back around her and she felt it start to line thoughts up in ways that would become solutions.

        “Thank you, Master Obi-Wan, you have been a great help. I will do my best to care for you in your past.” Luke had taken over the transference early and allowed her to be the more emotional one of the two of them. She looked up and offered Obi-Wan a weak smile.

        “You are very welcome, Master Luke, Master Leia. I hope you find solutions very quickly. And thank you, in advance, for taking care of me.” Obi-Wan smiled very lightly, “Oh, and another thing. Your mother is Senator Padmé Amidala,” he said and vanished.

        “Leia? Are you alright? I can feel your headache.” Luke reached over and rubbed his left hand across her back in a circular motion.

        “Aside from being ready to throw some people off of a few very high bridges? I think I’ll manage. Obi-Wan threw me for a loop with that last sentence... Padmé? She’s a legend. Also, am I wrong in thinking that there need to be several galactic laws against taking sentient beings from their loving families at such a ridiculously young age? I feel like either I’ve suddenly gone insane, or the entire universe just spiralled into chaos when I wasn’t looking.”

        “You’re definitely not insane. Basic age of informed consent has been a staple of galactic justice since before the Old Republic came into being.”

        “With the exception of the Jedi,” Leia pointed out.

        Luke nodded. “With the exception of the Jedi. What are we going to do about it?”

        “Is it really our responsibility?”

        “Such things seem to be exactly our responsibility.”

        “Then we’ve decided.”

        “We have.” Luke cleared his throat and spoke clearly, “Voice Of The Force, we have chosen to aid you.” The Room of a Thousand Fountains faded into a rolling blue-white mist, leaving only their stone chairs.

        “We are glad to hear it, our strongest children.” The Voice stepped forward out of the mists.

        “My brother and I will complete the task you have given us to the best of our abilities... Gal-Ena.”

        The Voice beamed at her. “And now We will always call you granddaughter and leave the explanations to you. Have you said your last goodbyes? For when I take you to the Place out of Time, you will no longer be able to speak with anyone who has passed into the force.”

        Leia looked over at her brother. _:Well?:_

_:It is your choice, but our birth parents are here. We could speak to our mother.:_ Expectation, worry, and desire to see them pulsed through his words.

_:Oh. I didn’t think? I would also like to see my parents if they’re here,:_ she thought at him sheepishly.

_:It’s alright, we haven’t left yet. Who first?:_ Anticipation and slight fear shone through his cal mental tone.

_:I’ll talk to my parents while you talk to your aunt and uncle? They may be here too.:_ She pulled out of the Force and called out into the mists, “Dad! Mom!” Silence. “Bail Organa? Please, father, don’t be gone.”

        “We are sorry granddaughter, he and his wife were not sensitive to Our call. They have moved past Us into the stars forever.” The Voice looked near heartbroken for her. A small keening noise was ripped from her throat as she fell to her knees in despair. From her, creeping vines of starflower wove their way through the mist, buds forming and blossoming with barely a thought. The smell of childhood filtered through her senses and her tears fell on blue flowers, bouncing off to disappear into the mist. Thirty-four years since her parents had died with their planet, and the pain hadn’t dissipated. “Your aunt and uncle were also not able to hear, grandson. They too have moved past the Force. We are sorry.” The Voice sounded weighed down by grief even as she found it hard to hear.

        “I understand,” her brother said, clearly calmer than she was, “I knew they weren’t Force-sensitive, so it’s not as much of a surprise to me. Although, I am startled the Han was. It explains a lot, thinking about it, and he always had the best instincts of the three of us.” Leia closed her eyes and opened her emotions to the Force, drifting into an emotional fatigue that lasted for a time she couldn’t have measured.

        The Force eased her out of despair and into memory for a while, tugging bits of joyous thought forward. Her father, playing with her on his shoulders racing around the gardens like a spaceship, complete with blaster noises. Her mother, calmly reading to her when she was ten from A Guidebook to Infiltration. Summer on Naboo, training with the Royal Handmaidens in secrecy and espionage. Her father letting her sit in on her first Royal council at fourteen, her mother allowing her to have tea time with her political rivals, teasing information out with gentle suggestions. Coruscant at sixteen, sure of herself and more than a little overwhelmed, shopping with a pair of retired queens and her mother. The rebellion at eighteen, going through basic, and teaching everyone that ‘Princess’ meant more than privilege, laughing with her father at the end of it when he handed her her rank. Hugging her mother as she left Alderaan for the last time. _See,_ a curl of the Force said, _they always loved you. You always loved them back. You should have few regrets. They were always proud. You know what they would say about this._

        The Force drifted away from her and towards Luke. _:Leia? Are you alright?:_ He offered her a hand up.

_:No, but I will be.:_ She took his hand and struggled to her feet, knees popping. _:Thanks.:_ The carpet of flowers had spread out as far as the eye could see. _:It’s a shame these old knees stayed like this after I died.:_

        “Your form is what you will it here, granddaughter. If you wish to be young again, simply will it so.” The Voice said gently. Luke cocked his head at the Voice, still holding on to her elbow with his gloved mechanical hand. His form shimmered and shifted a couple of times before settling into a comfortable twenty-eight year old version, complete with the robes of office from his academy on Yavin IV. Waves of force energy radiated from him and crashed back in, solidifying the slight shimmer his form had taken on.

        “Do you want to, Leia?”

        “It is very uncomfortable to look older than you. Show me?” She asked, pushing at their bond. Nodding, Luke threaded waves of Force through himself, shifting his age younger to when they had first met, and back again. Leia pulled herself into the core of her being and threaded waves of force, reaching for how she had felt at twenty-eight. A blinding memory of her wedding flashed before her eyes and she remembered breathlessly the entire adventure. Pulling out of the memory, she looked down at her smooth youthful hands and, reluctantly, at her wedding dress.

        “I suppose I should be grateful that you didn’t pick your wedding _night_ , shouldn’t I?” Luke teased, eyes crinkling with a smile. She snorted and waved her hand, shifting her clothing to something from her early days as a General. A simple dark green tunic and white wrap at her waist, along with white microsuede leggings and low brown boots. She felt the weight of a gun belt hang itself around her hips and the attached holster strapped over her right leg through the slit in her tunic. Luke raised an eyebrow. “How... militant of you, dear sister.”

        She chuckled dryly. “I suppose there is no need for a blaster, but do you need your lightsaber? And yet I see it there, strapped firmly to your waist... dear brother.”

        He laughed. “Fair point, I concede. Do you want to speak with our parents now? We could wait if you feel it necessary.”

        She shook her head no. “I think that would just be prolonging the inevitable. Although...” She turned to the Voice, “Was our mother sensitive to your call?”

        The Voice inclined their head to the side as if they were listening for something. “She was, although it was not necessarily her will to join us when she passed from reality to the Force. A... troubling set of circumstances, but We embraced her when her time came. She is here.”

        “Well in that case,” Leia turned her head to her brother, shifting her arm out from his hold and catching the cold leather covered metal of his hand in hers.

        “Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, we would like to speak with you if we may.”

        “Oh! Starflowers, how lovely. Hello Luke, Leia.” Padmé stepped out of the mist. Leia had seen holos of Senator Padmé and studied her reign as Queen Amidala. Thinking of her as ‘mother’ was... complicated. She was stunningly beautiful, and it made where their good looks came from very clear. Padmé was wearing wide cut wrap pants in an orange gradient with a matching top embroidered in red along the loose flowing sleeves. She smiled, radiating happiness. “I’m so glad to finally meet you both after all these years. I’ve been watching you, and I’m so proud of what you turned out to be.” A portion of the mist rippled and spiked in dark waves. “Give us a moment Ani,” She called out behind her. She looked back at them. “I’m sorry, I just want a minute or two with you before he comes to say hello.”

        Leia felt Luke’s hand tighten around hers and release, servos whining with conflicting neuro-messages. Looking at him, she saw tears threaten to spill down his cheeks. “I’m sorry, Senator, we may need a moment.”

        Padmé’s smile dimmed. “Of course. I don’t want to make you cry, Luke.” She waved a hand and a set of low-backed couches and chairs appeared off to the side, framing a low table. “I’ll sit over here until you are ready. Voice Of The Force, would you care to join me?” She asked, already ushering them over. They smiled with clear enjoyment and bent their head down to talk about something in a low tone as they sat.

_:Luke, what’s wrong?:_ Leia asked, waving gentile concern and love through their bond. _:We don’t have to talk to her if you don’t want to.:_

_:I have a mother. Leia, she’s our mother.:_ Tangled feelings of expectation, joy, fear, and relief radiated through his words. _:I never put much thought into who she was, because Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru never knew, but she’s here and real and lovely. She’s... She’s proud of us!:_ Emotion rang through the bond, swamping anything else Luke might have said.

        “Ouch. That hurt my brain, Luke. Do you want to go talk to her?” Leia held herself back from snapping at him, watching her brother with concern. His optimism sometimes got the better of him, even after two wars. He seemed to stabilize his emotions and nodded eagerly. Leia rolled her eyes at him and started gently tugging him over to the couches. “Sorry, Senator. We seem to have had a very... emotional and turbulent day. Or however long it’s been since we died,” Leia said, clearing her mind and trying to focus on Padmé.

        “Two days, granddaughter,” the Voice said, “They won, saving that whole planet, and are preparing for your funerals. If you do not mind, I will go there to speak with your son, his named trooper, and the young Force wielder at their side.”

        “Ben has Rey?!”

        The Voice chuckled gently. “Your other son, granddaughter. The one who has never felt the pull of the Force in his blood, the one who learned from his birth-mother to fly and from you to command. Poe. He stands tall and strong through your leaving, as do the two who could listen to Us. Grandson, I will teach your student and explain why you had to leave. Do you want to tell them anything?”

        “Tell Poe I’m proud of him, and the others as well. They did well for their first battle as an official part of the Resistance. I wish I could have said it in person.” Leia looked over at her brother.

        “Tell Rey I’m sorry for leaving her. And tell the other Force-sensitive that I wish I could have taught him.”

        The Voice inclined their head and vanished. Padmé raised an eyebrow. “I take it you didn’t leave at the most opportune of times?”

        “You could say that, yes,” Leia said in her driest tone, “I was shot down in the middle of a refugee evacuation, and Luke had a heart attack at the same time while overseeing the spaceflight and our fighter escorts. We did our best.”

        “I know you did, Leia. I’ve been watching you your entire life, and I’ve been proud of you the entire time.”

        Leia blinked a few times. “My entire life?”

        Padmé covered her mouth with a hand and giggled. “Only the parts you were in public my darling. I’m not interested in being an overly prying parent. And Luke- I saw what happened. I knew Beru and Lars briefly, and they were excellent hosts. We drank tzai together. Their deaths were a tragedy this universe didn’t deserve.”

        “Thank you, Padmé.”

        “Oh! What am I doing? You’ll want to talk to Ani.” A tendril of energy curled off of her into the mist and pulled at someone. Leia dropped a hand to her blaster automatically as the mist darkened behind her new-found second mother. _:Luke?:_

_:It’s okay. I think he’s healed-:_

        Anakin Skywalker stepped out of the mist. “I’m not sure I blame you for that reaction,” He said, holding his hands up to show he was unarmed. Leia forced a breath in through her nose and out through her mouth. _:I’m not sure I like this, brother.:_

_:Don’t think of it like Darth Vader is here, think of it that my father is showing up to say goodbye.:_ Luke waved calm over their bond and eased the clenched feeling at the base of her heart.

_:Do I have to claim him as MY-:_

_:No, no, no. You may be my sister, but we don’t have to share parents:_

        Leia eased her hand off of her blaster and folded her hands calmly on her lap, easing her emotions into the force. “My apologies, Senator... General?”

        Skywalker smiled. “Just Anakin is fine, your highness. I owe you a good many more apologies than I can count. On the day that I destroyed your planet, I also lost a friend in Bail- I’m not-” The man who caused the destruction of multiple planets sighed deeply. “I can’t accurately describe what it was like to be twisted by Palpatine. My thoughts, emotions, my very being no longer belonged to myself. Even when I had been a slave born of slaves on Tatooine I had my thoughts. Te masuan em lukkema, Lukka. I never had a free thought from the moment my wife died until the second the Emperor was defeated. I hope to make amends for the times where I could’ve saved _so many_ \- but I may never be able to.”

        “Ena, why have you not gone to the green place?” Luke asked, eyes wide and face open. Leia watched closely as he asked, and felt the heartbreak radiating through the force. Anakin looked at the floor before answering.

        “I won’t go where Padmé can’t follow.” He rested a hand against the back of her chair, and she smiled gently and laced her fingers through his. “We were waiting for you. Then...”

        “The Voice agreed to send us to my estate on Naboo. We’ll rest there until we can move on separately- or if we can’t, then that’s where we’ll be for the rest of time.”

        “I became keetka-du. After I left the Jedi, I was depukrekta. I will be asking Ar-Amu for forgiveness for the rest of my time in this universe.”

        Luke nodded sadly. “If that’s all then,” he stood, “I owe you a hug and a heartfelt goodbye, ena.”

        Anakin released Padmé’s hand and rounded her chair. “I do have a present for you. I know you’re going back to the way things were from before I was a child. So I will give you my experience from my classes, so you can blend with the others in the Jedi Temple.” Anakin tilted his forehead against Luke’s. The burst of information lit the Force up around father and son. As the exchange ended, Luke shifted to hug his father.

        “Thank you, ena. I’ll do you proud. We can fix things- far above and beyond anything that may have been patched over from mistakes in the past. Trust us.”

        “With my heart and my freedom, Lukka. With my heart and freedom.” Anakin stepped back and nodded at Leia. Leia saluted informally. He had at least earned her respect, even if her feelings were still a tangled mess.

        “The Force is with you, Anakin. When we see you next- you will not remember us, but we will take care of you.”

        Padmé stood and hugged Luke. “You just do the best you can, and it will be something incredible.” She held him at arm's length. “I’m so proud of what you did- and you are so _good_ , sweetheart. You are full of light.”

        Luke wiped his cheeks and scooped her back into a hug. “Thank you, amu. It means so much to me.” He let her go again. “Goodbye. We will do our best to protect you and your planet.”

        “I know you will, sweetheart. Leia- can I hug you goodbye?” Padmé asked, even as Leia stood eagerly. Padmé hugged her tightly. “You keep being fierce, darling. You’re so so strong, the Senate is going to shake in its boots. I know that whatever you need to do, it’ll all be okay. Okay?”

        The reasons Padmé had been elected to the Senate were her passion, sincerity, and ability to speak. To hear her say those things to her _face_ , as her _mother_ was overwhelming. Leia was unafraid of the tears that snuck their way out of the corners of her eyes. “Thank you, mom. I’ll make you proud.”

        Padmé gently wiped one of the tears off of Leia’s face. “With every breath, my darling. Go do some good you two-” She stepped away and tangled her hand with Anakin’s, “we’ll rest easy knowing you have things under control.”

        Anakin bent down and kissed her cheek. “Goodbye, son, Leia. May the Force be with you.”

        “And also with you.”

        “Goodbye.”

        With that, the pair turned and disappeared into the mist. The last glance Leia got was of Padmé resting her head against Anakin’s shoulder.

 

        Luke stared into the mist contemplatively for a couple of moments. His sister reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. _:I’m not sure if this is the best time-:_ Her thoughts carried an undertone of amusement and slight horror/embarrassment.

_:No, go ahead. I was just thinking about... things:_ He tried to tangle up the _love/fear/confusion_ that came with the memory share from his father and keep it from leaking through.

_:Right,:_ her mental tone made it clear he hadn’t succeeded _:Well- our father was well known in the Clone Wars for being the Hero Without Fear, yeah? He had some made-for-comm movies about him in the later part of the old republic and... well...:_

_:Oh Force, you had a crush on him.:_

_:In hindsight? Hilarious. Right now? Mortifying.:_ He felt Leia ease her stance a little from one foot to the other.

        “There’s one more person I need to ask for permission,” Luke said, turning to face his sister, “I need to speak with Ar-Amu, and ask if it is alright-” A wind fill of sand gusted around him and he closed his eyes instinctually. It swirled from his feet to his face, where he heard a voice whisper in Amatakka- old, and dry like the dunes, _you are free my child; free to choose and free to change; be who you are and do what you feel is best; help to free my children; help them to free themselves._

        “Oh,” Leia said. Luke opened his eyes and saw the Tatooine stars stretch overhead, even as the white mist flowed around them. “Oh, it’s beautiful. I never- it is beautiful, isn’t it? This is where we’re from.”

        “Yes. All of this is in our blood- the blood of freemen born of a freed slave.”

        “I’m not sure- do I belong here? I’m a child of a gentler place...”

        “You belong with me, Leia. For as long as you choose to.” Luke reached out and tucked a stray hair back behind her ear. “I would like to help my people free themselves. Would you help?”

        Leia nodded once, firmly. “I think it’s time we went back.”

        “We are glad to hear that, grandchildren.” The Voice stepped out from the mist. “May We take you to the place beyond Time?”

        Luke nodded to Leia and said, “Yes. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.” The night sky above them vanished and the mist turned inky black. Gravity faded until they were once again floating directionless. One by one, lights appeared around them. Some pulsed with warm white light, some flickered with hazy darkness- a few appeared only to vanish in the next second. Millions came, faster and faster, so quickly and numerously Luke couldn’t keep track.

        “This is all of time- every moment, every instant, every future and vision. Every past second, all of history. Once We send you through the moment We have chosen, We will not be able to bring you back. Are you ready? Will you take this task?” The Voice no longer wore a humanoid shape, seeming to come from all around

        “We will,” Leia said.

        “And we are ready,” said Luke.

        “Then you are gone, Our greatest hopes. Stay open and We will guide you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to @fialleril for her amazing Tatooine slave culture hc's- they're awesome and you should go look at all their tags on Tumblr.  
> Translations:  
> Te masuan em lukkema, Lukka- You were my freedom, Luke  
> keetka-du- One who turned their back on their culture  
> depukrekta- Lit. repairer of chains, someone who helps slavers to enslave others  
> Ena and Amu- Parent (third gender) and Mother
> 
> The next chapter may take some time folks, I had the first two and the prologue prewritten, but the third is still in progress

**Author's Note:**

> There should be another chapter either tonight or tomorrow night!


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